Alexis Grimou
Alexis Grimou | |
---|---|
Born | 24 May 1678 Argenteuil,[1] France |
Died | May 1733 Paris, France |
Alexis Grimou, also Grimoult or Grimoux (1678-1733) was a French portrait painter. He is often confused with Jean Grimou (1674-1733), an unrelated Swiss genre painter whose father served with the Swiss Guards at Versailles.
Biography
His father was a carpenter. Sometime in the late 1690s, he was apprenticed to the painter and engraver, Bon Boullogne.[2]. He may also have been a student of François de Troy, based on similarities in their use of color.
In 1704, he married Marie-Gabrielle Petit, a niece of Procopio Cutò, founder of the Café Procope, a meeting place for artists and intellectuals. Economics may have been a motive in the union, as a notary document in the Archives Nationales reveals that she owned a considerable amount of property on Mauritius; along with slaves and "autres effets mobiliers et immobiliers" (other assets, moveable and immoveable).
His brother-in-law, Matthias François Petit, was the intermediary who, between 1740 and 1753, was commissioned to purchase art for the collection of King Friedrich II of Prussia. That collection would come to include numerous works by Boullogne and his students.[2].
Since 1700, his name had appeared in the registry of the Académie Royale, but there is no record of any activity. In 1705, he was commissioned to paint portraits of the sculptor, Jean Raon, who died before it was completed, and the painter, Antoine Coypel, whose portrait was still unfinished by 1709. As a result, he was removed from their list and became a member of the Académie de Saint-Luc instead.[3][4].
That same year, he may have visited the Netherlands to copy the Dutch Masters. This is inferred from a sudden darkening in his use of color and some copies he made later. Known to have a dissolute lifestyle, he was always in debt and often paid his creditors with small works done on the spot. From 1720 until his death, for unknown reasons, he became much more responsible and productive.
He died in 1733, well known and appreciated for his painting, but personally unpopular because he was generally considered to be "bizarre et singulier"[5]. Although acknowledged as an exaggeration, he was sometimes called the "French Rembrandt". In 1805, he was the subject of a vaudeville, staged by Maxime de Redon in Paris.
His works may been seen in museums throughout France. as well as at the Uffizi in Florence and the Scottish National Gallery.
References
Further reading
- C. Gabillot, Alexis Grimou, peintre français (1678-1733), Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1911
- Louis Réau, "Grimou, 1678 à 1733", in Louis Dimier (Ed.), Les Peintres français du XVIIIe siècle, Vol.2, G. Van Oest, Paris, Brussels, 1930, pgs.195-215.
External links
- More works by Grimou @ ArtNet
- Alexis Grimou (Jacques-Albin-Simon Collin de Plancy, Le Ménétrier d'Echternach et quelques autres légendes d'artistes, Société de Saint-Victor, Paris, 1853 5th ed., pgs.223-229)
- Alexis Grimou @ the RKD
- Biography of JEAN Grimou @ the Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz